A new production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street opens at the Komische Oper Berlin December 8, directed by Barrie Kosky. Take a first look at the production in the trailer above.

Bass-baritone Christopher Purves stars as Sweeney Todd, with Dagmar Manzel and Rosie Aldridge sharing the role of Mrs. Lovett. The cast also includes Hubert Zapiór as Anthony, Alma Sadé as Johanna, Tom Schimon as Toby, Jens Larsen as Judge Turpin, James Kryshak as Beadle Bamford, Sigalit Feig as the Beggar Woman, and Ivan Turšić as Pirelli. James Gaffigan conducts.

Sweeney Todd, which had its Broadway premiere in 1979 and won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, has proven popular with opera companies around the world, due to its rich orchestral score, grand melodramatic story, and starring role for a classical bass-baritone. Purves joins the likes of Nathan Gunn, Thomas Allen, and Bryn Terfel in the list of international opera stars to take on the part of the demon barber. In view of how often the musical is produced by opera companies, Jonathan Tunick, the musical's original orchestrator, has recently embarked on a project to create an expanded orchestration to more fully harness the forces of an opera house orchestra.

An acclaimed director of opera, Barrie Kosky has also directed numerous musicals at the Komische Oper Berlin, including recent productions of Chicago and La Cage Aux Folles. His production of Fiddler on the Roof was produced at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2022, and his production of The Threepenny Opera, which was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, will come to New York this spring.

Visit Komische-Oper-Berlin.de for more details.